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him. So he sent another Gorkhali troop under the command of Maheshwor Panta. The
troops under Maheshwor Panta were badly defeated.

The main motive to conquer Nuwakot (Kerung) was:

1. The trade route between Tibet and Kathmandu
2. High altitude is suitable to make fort.
3. It had fertile land.
4. Prithvi Narayan Shah wanted to take revenge of his father’s defeat in BS 1794
Reasons behind the defeat

1. Lack of geographical knowledge
2. Lack of trained and sufficient soldiers
3. Lack of study about the geography of the Nuwakot
4. Lack of coordination between the commanders and the army battalion
5. Poor preparation of the attack
After the unsuccessful invasion Prithvi Narayan Shah felt to increase trained soldiers,
arms and ammunition as well as cooperation from the people of Gorkha. Bise Nagarchi,
a tailor suggested him to collect 1 rupee cash or kinds (items) equivalent to the cash
from each house in Gorkha to solve the economic obstacles. The king agreed with his
suggestion. Altogether Rs 12,000 was collected and Rs 14000 was borrowed from the
local businessmen. Then, the Gorkhali king went to Benaras and collected some arms
and ammunition. Abhiman Singh sent Indian weapon experts named Shekh Jabar,
Muhammad Taqi and Bekhsingh to Gorkha to give training to the Gorkhali army.
Prithvi Narayan Shah appointed and gave trainings to the army. To attract people to
join the army he introduced “Marwat System”, in which in case of death of any army
in the battle field, his family was provisioned to get compensation.

Prithvi Narayan Shah developed political relations with neighbouring states.
Lamjung was its age old enemy. He sent Kalu Pandey to develop relationship and in
other states too.
Conquest of Nuwakot

After the grand and extensive preparation Prithvi Narayan Shah led his troop of
th
about 1000 soldiers to attack Nuwakot on 14 Ashwin 1801 in the appearance of
th
peasants. On 15 Ashwin 1801, the Gorkhali troop surrounded Nuwakot from its
three sides by Kalu Pandey, Mahoddamkirti and Prithvi Narayan Shah himself, then
attack on Nuwakot. Jayanta Rana, the commander (governor) of Nuwakot had been
to Kantipur, seeking additional reinforcement, but due to the festive-mood king Jaya
Prakash Malla ignored the urgency of Jayanta Rana.
In the absence of Jayanta Rana, his son, Shankhamani Rana took the command of
Nuwakot soldiers. Sudden attack of Gorkhalese couldn’t resist by Nuwakot soldier.
Dalmardan Shah, 14 years old brother of Prithvi Narayan Shah, killed Shankhamani
Rana. The remaining soldiers fled to Belkot. The Gorkhali king captured Nuwakot.

253 Dynamic Social Studies - Book IX